2011/04/22

Arnie Gunderson interviews epidemiologist Dr. Steven Wing

Arnie Gunderson and Steven Wing discuss cancer rates and suggest responses to the spreading dose of radiation from Fukushima in this video (11:29).

"But as the radiation clouds move away from Fukushima and move far away to other continents and around the world the doses are spread out. But it's important for people to know that spreading out a given amount of radiation dose among more people, although it reduces each person's individual risk, it doesn't reduce the number of cancers that result from that amount of radiation. So having millions and millions of people exposed to a very small dose could produce just as much cancer as a thousand or a few thousand people exposed to that same dose." - Dr. Steven Wing

He also warns that there is nothing we can do, really, in North America (or elsewhere) to avoid exposure to the radiation that has traveled from Fukushima at this point; whatever is out there is out there, and there is, in his opinion, nothing we can do to avoid our own risk. I believe that certain foods and plants help our bodies stay resilient in the face of toxic exposure - to radiation and other toxins - and agree that we still have to eat, just like the raccoons and bears and fish that live near me. I do not agree with Dr. Wing that there is nothing we can do, and I do not agree that public pressure will stop the the Obama administration's beloved nuclear power machine. 

Dr. Wing also reminds us that focusing too much on the radiation coming from Fukushima can blind us to all the other sources of radiation exposure and exposure to other toxins that cause cancer, all of which we must work to eliminate and protect ourselves from as well. He argues that collective action is our best action at this time. I am less hopeful.

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